Leydon: High console prices fuelling free-to-play

Gabriel Leydon, CEO of mobile company Addmired, has told a DICE audience that the high cost of console games to consumers is pushing growth in the free-to-play market.

Leydon said that the traditional, disc-based model employed by the likes of Microsoft and Sony is allowed free trials to blossom on other platforms.

“It removes the risk from the consumer,” he said of free-to-play, as reported by GamesIndustry. “The consumer pays nothing to try out the game. I want the consumer to play for months without paying. Good free to play encourages players to stay and that’s where the longevity is, because the risk of an online pass, consoles that can’t play used games, DLC and all this stuff, after I’ve paid $70; why would do I do that? I can play lots of great games that are free.”

Leydon said mobile is the future of games.

“Mobile is the home of free-to-play and that’s the next big model for video games,” he added. “The real problem [for consoles] is price fixing. Consoles set expectations for prices for thirty years.”

Much is being made of the free-to-play transition in the core market at the moment, with many MMOs enjoying huge revenue leaps as they shift away from traditional subs models.